Time Warner says it will continue to carry Sinclair stations' programs through at least Jan. 14

Friday

Dec 31, 2010 at 12:01 AMJan 1, 2011 at 2:26 AM

Time Warner Cable will continue to air programming from Sinclair Broadcast Group stations through at least Jan. 14, the cable company said this evening, while talks on fee issues continue.

The companies' contract expires at midnight and programming from stations including WSYX-TV (Channel 6) and WTTE-TV (Channel 28) was at risk of being unavailable to Time Warner customers after that time.

"We're pleased to announce that we've reached an extension with Sinclair that will allow our customers to continue to receive all Sinclair Broadcasting stations uninterrupted through January 14, and allow us to continue negotiating to reach a long-term agreement," Time Warner said in a statement on its website. "We thank our customers for their patience and support throughout these negotiations."

Time Warner previously had announced an end run around Sinclair that would have provided its customers with network programming, even though local stations' local news and sports programs wouldn't have been available.

The dispute had threatened to prevent cable customers in Sinclair markets around the country from seeing Saturday's Outback Bowl between Penn State and Florida. Time Warner has about 4 million customers who get local broadcast stations owned by Sinclair.

Time Warner's plan was toimport broadcast signals from other cities to replace Sinclair stations so local customers wouldn't miss their network programming from NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox.

Time Warner has been importing signals in upstate New York because of a similar dispute with Smith Media. Viewers get the network evening shows but see out-of-market local newscasts and syndicated fare.

Time Warner spokewoman Maureen Huff said even if the dispute with Sinclair dragged on, Time Warner customers in Sinclair cities would still have seen all NFL playoff games, the Super Bowl and "most if not all" would see the full assortment of college football bowls.

A Sinclair official took issue with the legality of Time Warner's workaround.

"Sinclair is aware of Time Warner's intent to bring distant signals into Sinclair markets in the event they are not able to complete a deal with us," said Barry Faber, Sinclair Broadcast Group executive vice president and general counsel, in a statement today.

He indicated owners of the stations working with Time Warner on the signal-importation plan have filed complaints with the FCC over these actions, reportedly because the ability to do so was "a drafting error in the agreement and not a reflection of the intention of the parties to those contracts."

Faber also said that even if Time Warnerwas successful in bringing out-of-market signals into Sinclair markets, they would only be able to do so for January and February, "which will simply give their customers ample time to switch to other video providers."

Without an agreement, Hunt Valley, Md.-based Sinclair planned to pull its signals from Time Warner and Bright House cable systems. Sinclair owns 33 stations carried by Time Warner around the country, and others in the South - though not many network affiliates - carried on Bright House.

Bright House spokeswoman Kimberly Maki held out hope the company could get an extension from Sinclair while negotiations continue. "It happens all the time," she said.

Dispatch assistant business editor Barbara James contributed to this story.